David Lidsky's Blog, page 4833

Infographic of the Day: Google's "Data for a Changing World"

Google's new offering--and a slew of others--highlights a new trend that allows everyone to publish, graph, and share data. And Microsoft Excel is getting lapped.

Google's getting into the data visualization game: Yesterday, Google Labs unveiled the "Public Data Explorer," which allows you to see animated visualizations of some of the most searched-for data sets on the Web. (You can watch a fascinating animation of the chart above here.)

This is an add on to a search feature that Google...

Eat-onomics With Deborah Kane of FoodHub, a Match.com for Locavores

Think of it as the Match.com for the locavore movement: FoodHub connects small and regional producers with food buyers for restaurants, corporate cafeterias, public schools--even state prisons. We spoke with Deborah Kane, VP of food and farms at the nonprofit Ecotrust, about bringing farm-to-table eating beyond high-end restaurants and to the masses.

Fast Company: What is Foodhub?

Deborah Kane: Foodhub makes it possible for a food buyer of any kind--whether it's for a restaurant or a school...

Consumers Only Want Green Cars If They Are Superior in Every Possible Way

Think consumers are so hungry for all things green that they will buy a hybrid car just because it's a hybrid? Think again. A study from Accenture shows that 6 out of 10 people are more likely to buy a hybrid or electric car only if it is better than a gasoline-powered counterpart in every way--that means a hybrid needs to dominate in cost, entertainment features, safety, maintenance, communication, and navigation add-ons.

Accenture broke up its survey results, taken from 1,850 consumers...

Goldman Sachs Slashes Nexus One Sales Forecast to Around 1 Million

An analyst at Goldman Sachs has thrown a wrench into the works of Google's smartphone by downgrading the sales forecast of the Nexus One. Initial expectations were high: analysts had said as many as 3.5 million units would be sold in the first year. But with just 80,000 sold in the first month, according to mobile analytic group Flurry, figures have now been revised down to around a million.

Compare and contrast this with other handsets. The first iPhone took 74 days to hit a million in...

Design Award Upset: Small Chilean Studio Beats the Starchitects With Affordable Housing Project

2010's Brit Insurance Design Award for Architecture went to Elemental's affordable, and adaptable, housing project in Mexico, skipping over big shots like Zaha Hadid and James Corner.

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Architecture had its own Oscars on Monday, and just as cinephiles everywhere sighed with relief when The Hurt Locker beat out "FernGully: Part 2," those following the Brit Insurance Design Awards cheered the triumph of the little guy. In a major upset, little-known Chilean studio Elemental beat big-budget...

Google Gussies Up With Dish for TV Search Service

Thanks to a hook-up with satellite TV provider Dish Network, Google is getting into the TV search business. The project, which neither Google or Dish are commenting on, will use new set-top boxes that run on Android, and is aiming to bring broadcast TV and online video together, as well as creating a personalized TV schedule.

Thanks to its ownership of YouTube, Google already has several content deals with broadcasters. The idea ties in neatly with its latest ruse, Google TV Ads, which...

Design Award Upset: Small Chilean Studio Beats the Starchitects with Affordable Housing Project

2010's Brit Insurance Design Award for Architecture went to Elemental's affordable, and adaptable, housing project in Mexico, skipping over big shots like Zaha Hadid and James Corner.

[image error]

Architecture had its own Oscars on Monday, and just as cinephiles everywhere sighed with relief when The Hurt Locker beat out FernGully: Part 2, those following the Brit Insurance Design Awards cheered the triumph of the little guy. In a major upset, little-known Chilean studio Elemental beat big-budget...

Cleveland's Galleria Mall Turns Lost Retail Space Into Greenhouse Farm Stand

Shopping malls, those bastions of American consumerism, have not been immune to the recent economic downturn. In a recent piece by our own Greg Lindsay, we looked at the impending decline of the mall, which is part of the "single-use environment" category of real estate development that will slowly disappear over the next thirty years, according to one developer. But what will replace these environments, and more importantly, what will happen to the massive malls of today?

One possible...

Google Gussies up With Dish for TV Search Service

Thanks to a hook-up with satellite TV provider Dish Network, Google is getting into the TV search business. The project, which neither Google or Dish are commenting on, will use new set-top boxes that run on Android, and is aiming to bring broadcast TV and online video together, as well as creating a personalized TV schedule.

Thanks to its ownership of YouTube, Google already has several content deals with broadcasters. The idea ties in neatly with its latest ruse, Google TV Ads, which sells...

Amazon's First Response to iPad Hype: A Better Browser for Kindle

Amazon is slowly stirring itself into action by improving its Kindle e-reader, just as I suggested it ought to if it's going to compete with the iPad and other tablet PCs. The first move: Improving the shoddy web browsing experience on the device.

We know Amazon is working on this thanks to a job opening in the company's Kindle division Lab126 seeking an engineer to develop an "innovative embedded web browser." The engineer in question must have expertise in Java software development...